It's In The Genes
by Kylink
Summary: Life has been quite normal in Arendelle. Anna and Kristoff are married with two boys, Elsa is queen and can control her powers, and Sven and Olaf now live in the castle. When winter comes unusually early this year, and not by Elsa's hand, the cause is left unknown. Unbeknownst to Kristoff and Anna, the reason lies in the last place they'd expect: their own son.


"Mommy! Mommy, come see! It's snowing!"

Anna chuckled to herself; snow was something she was pretty much used to, but her son's excitement and enthusiasm for it was contagious. Her husband Kristoff sighed as he went over to scoop the almost five-year-old boy into his arms, grunting when he realized just how heavy he was becoming.

"Easy there, Champ." He softly chided him. "Your mother is trying to rest."

Jan looked down guiltily at the floor as he murmured a squeaky, "Y-Yes, sir. Sorry."

"Oh, let him have some fun, Kristoff." Anna laughed. "It never snows this early after all."

Jan's face instantly perked up, grateful that his mother decided to take his side on the matter. "Daddy, can we go out to play in it?"

"In a little while." Kristoff yawned as he stretched his arms. "Daddy wants to get a few extra Z's in. But Sven can take you."

As if on cue, Sven and Olaf came bursting into the room, with Olaf riding on top of the reindeer as Kristoff's old sled he used as a child was being dragged behind them. Kristoff winced at the sudden commotion, and harshly shushed them both, however this only riled up Jan's excitement even more.

"Olaf!" Jan threw his arms tightly around the snowman when he dismounted, knowing how much he liked warm hugs. Olaf nearly choked from the boy's strength as the heat from the embrace was slowly melting his snow.

"Whoa, buddy! I'm happy to see you too!" He wheezed, but Jan did not let go. "Er…I may not have bones…but you're still kind of…crushing me…"

"Ah, sorry!" With that, Jan relinquished his suffocating hold on Olaf to go play with Sven as the snowman gasped out in exasperation. Kristoff smirked and cross his arms.

"That's my boy. He has his father's strength." He chuckled as Anna rolled her eyes and softly nudged his arm.

"He has too much of it!" Olaf complained as he tried to even out the imprints in his snow. He groaned out of frustration when he realized it wasn't going to work. "Man, this was the worst summer ever. Such a disappointment."

"Why? Was the heat not up to your standards?" Kristoff joked.

"No! It was too short! I thought winter wasn't supposed to come for another month or so."

"It is rather unusual." Anna spoke up. "I don't think Elsa's in a bad mood though."

"If only she had summer powers!" Olaf whined as he threw his stick arms up in frustration. "I don't like the snow."

"But Olaf, aren't you made of snow?" Jan tilted his head in confusion at the snowman's attitude towards anything and everything cold.

Olaf slung an arm around the boy's shoulder. "Trust me, kid. When you're made of snow, it's pretty much winter everyday for you. It gets kind of old."

"Hey, Olaf, do me a favor and take Jan outside, will ya?" Kristoff butted in. "He's been wanting to play in the snow all day."

Olaf sighed, but put on his best happy expression and leapt onto Sven's back. "Alright, fine. C'mon, Jan! Let's go build me a snow-wife!"

"Yay!" Jan hopped up on the sled. "Let's go, Sven!"

Sven rose on his hind legs and pretended to whinny like a horse before trotting outside. The couple laughed at the trio's dramatic exit before Kristoff moved to get in bed next to his wife. He shivered from the sudden heat as he wrapped the blankets tightly around himself.

"Geez, it's colder in here than it is out there I bet." He whispered.

Anna shook her head. "Don't you start complaining about the cold too, Kristoff."

"Well, it's kinda hard when your sister-in-law has ice powers." He put an arm around her and pulled her in close. "Speaking of, where is Elsa?"

"I think she said something about meeting with diplomats today. Good thing she's the queen. I don't think I'd be able to handle it like this."

Kristoff chuckled as he brought his hand down to rub his wife's belly, which was swollen from their growing child. "Baby number three."

"I hope it's a girl." Anna sighed dreamily. "It's hard enough raising two boys as well as Sven and Olaf."

"And if it's not?" Kristoff challenged the idea with a teasing smirk.

"Well, we'll just try again."

"But what if it's another boy?"

"Then Elsa won't have to worry about having an heir to the throne. She can thank us for doing all the work."

The two shared a laugh over this as they snuggled in closer together. They were just about to doze off when Anna spoke again.

"He's been reclusive lately." She commented. "I wonder if he's going through a phase?"

Kristoff raised an eyebrow. "Tomas?"

"Yeah…"

"You need me to give him a talking to?"

"No. He's not being rebellious, nor is he misbehaving and fighting with his brother. But he's got some weird habits going on. Whenever I see him, he's either locked himself in his room, pouring over books in the library, or going outside to shoot his bow. And he's started to take a liking to gloves."

"It's probably just a phase." Kristoff reassured her as he kissed the top of her head. "You know how introverted I used to be. Maybe it's in the genes."

Anna giggled a bit as she flicked the messy bangs out of her husband's eyes. "Well, I hope he grows out of it and doesn't become awkward. One Kristoff in the family is already enough."

"You know you love me and my awkwardness."

"Haha. Yes, I really do."

* * *

><p>It was still in the middle of the autumn season, but Arendelle was already a winter wonderland, highly unusual for the land around this time. But ever since the reveal of Elsa's ice powers came to light, everyone hasn't been giving the weather too much thought. Everyone, that is, except for the ten-year-old prince of Arendelle Tomas. The boy was currently in the backyard of the castle, shooting arrows into trees with a bow he got from his father for his birthday. Archery wasn't particularly a sport he would ever want to compete in, but it was enough to take his mind off of other things. His gloved hands held the bow and arrow in a steady position as he aimed at his next target, a willow tree whose leaves had fallen off from the cold. He relinquished his hold on the quiver and watched as the arrow flew through the air until it lodged itself into the branch. Tomas nodded and reached into his satchel to grab another arrow only to find it empty. With a sigh, he went over to the trees to start collecting his arrows. When he got to the last one, he paused and looked around. After making sure no one was in the area, he took one of his gloves off and moved to take the arrow. As soon as his bare fingers touched the wooden shaft, the arrow was instantly enveloped in ice. Tomas pulled his arm away in fear and put the glove back on without a second thought. These powers were starting to get ridiculous. He couldn't even touch something without freezing it.<p>

As he pulled the arrow from the tree, the sound of chattering reached his ears. He turned and saw the diplomats who visited earlier today were now leaving. There was also a slight commotion coming from the direction of the courtyard. The voices sounded like they belonged to Jan, his father, and his mother. Who knows what they were doing? He flinched when he suddenly heard someone calling his name, and soon Anna came into sight as she jogged towards him. Her clothes were dusted with snow flecks, almost like she was in a snowball war. Knowing her, that was probably what she was just doing.

"Tomas, dinner's almost ready." She said, out of breath. "Come inside and get ready."

"Y-Yes, mother." He replied as he casually hid the arrow behind his back. Luckily, she didn't give it a second thought and walked away. Tomas sighed in relief, buried the ice-encased arrow into the snow, and ran to catch up with his mother.

* * *

><p>In the dining hall of the castle, every member of the royal family (plus Sven and Olaf) were now seated at the table with Elsa at the head, Anna, Kristoff, and Jan on one side, and Olaf and Sven on the other. However, there was an empty spot at the table where Tomas was supposed to be sitting.<p>

"Where is he?" Anna whispered over to Kristoff, who just shrugged.

"In his room maybe?" He suggested.

A servant came up to the table. "Shall I go fetch him, Your Highness?"

"No thanks, I got—" Kristoff started to stand up, but that was when he heard footsteps echoing from down the hall, and Tomas came running into the room with a distraught look on his face. What caught his attention more was the fact that his son's clothes looked like they were covered in sleet.

"Sorry I'm late." He panted, immediately taking his unoccupied seat at the other end of the table.

"Why are you covered in ice?" Kristoff asked him as he sat back down. "Did you go back outside?"

"Y-Yes, I forgot to get my bow…" Tomas stammered. In truth, he had taken his gloves off when he got to his room, and when he touched his fresh clothes they became shrouded in ice. When he panicked trying to thaw them out, his powers set off a mini blizzard in his room. Luckily, his parents and no one else decided to question him further about it, and they all returned to eating their soup.

As they were eating, Anna struck up a conversation with her sister and asked her about the diplomats, though Olaf kept interrupting by bringing up the weather all while Sven was licking the snow off of the oblivious snowman's head. Kristoff and Jan were engaged in some other activity, rolling a marble across the table to each other as they waited for the main course to arrive. As all of this was going on, Tomas just sat off to the side, gazing between his uneaten bowl of soup and his gloved hands. He knew using the utensils with his gloves was bad etiquette, as he had been chastised by Anna when he was younger, but he also knew that if he took them off, he would end up freezing the entire table. And he did NOT want that to happen.

"Again, why is the weather…"

"Olaf, for the last time, sometimes winter just comes early." Elsa replied to another one of Olaf's interruptions.

The snowman crossed his arms. "But can't you do something about it?"

"I could, but it's not going to bring back summer."

"So this weather wasn't by your doing?" Anna asked for confirmation.

"That's what I've been trying to tell Olaf these past couple minutes. Though honestly…it's weird that it came so soon. It never did that before."

Tomas winced when he listened in to what they were talking about, instantly regretting it. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice that the servants were already bringing out the main course until someone placed a plate full of food in front of him. It was his favorite: pork roast over potatoes with gravy and rolls. It smelled so delicious, but he could only feel dread in his stomach at the sight of it.

"Is something wrong with your meal, Your Highness?" The servant whispered.

Tomas blinked. "Oh, uh, no. I-It's nothing."

To keep up appearances, he grabbed up his utensils and was about to take a bite of pork when Anna cleared her throat.

"Tomas, your gloves." She reminded him.

The uneasy feeling in his stomach intensified, and Tomas really did feel like he was about to be sick right then and there. He dropped his utensils back onto the table and stood up from his seat.

"I'm not feeling well." He mumbled. "May I please be excused?"

Without bothering to wait for an answer, he powerwalked- much less ran- out of the dining room, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. Everyone just stared in stunned silence as they watched the boy leave. Anna gave her husband a concerned look before excusing herself and following her son's trail to where she expected him to go: his room. When she got to his door, she gave her signature knock so he would know who was on the other side, but there came no answer. Either he wasn't in there, or he was just ignoring her.

"Tomas?" She knocked again. "Are you there?"

From the inside of his room, Tomas sat on his bed, shivering from the cold as snowflakes whirled playfully around him, almost as if they were mocking him. He didn't dare to answer his mother's beckoning and instead wished and waited for her to give up and leave him alone. Unfortunately, she wasn't like that at all. Anna was the kind of person who was determined- almost to the point of stubbornness- to get the truth out of people, and wouldn't give up until they did, as Aunt Elsa had explained to him a while back. She'd probably camp out in front of his door until he was willing to come clean to her if she had to.

"Tomas, please?" She called to him. Her voice was so warm and inviting; it made him want to cry.

"Is he in there?" Oh no. Now his father was in on it too.

"I'm not sure. He's not answering."

"Here, let me try. Tomas!"

Kristoff's knocking was louder and more forceful than Anna's, probably because he banged on doors rather than simple knocking. Every time his fist hit the door, it made Tomas's heart thump wildly in its place. Now he was afraid. If he didn't answer, his father would be very angered with him. But if they saw the state his room was in, there was no telling how they would react.

The doorknob began to twist and jangle, but the door did not open.

"Okay, seriously? You didn't have to lock the door."

His father's voice was filled with annoyance, but that was the least of Tomas's worries at the moment. He never remembered locking the door, but that was when he came to a horrifying realization that the lock was most likely frozen solid. As his anxiety began to rise, so did the storm outside him. Sharp crystals began to grow from the walls and the snowflakes stung his face whenever they hit him from blowing around so hard. He couldn't take anymore of this; he had to get out of there. Quietly, he slipped over to his window and gently pushed it open. He sighed out of relief when he saw that they weren't frozen shut, and carefully slid out the window, down the roof, and onto the ground, making a beeline towards the backyard as soon as his feet touched the ground.

"Alright, I'm breaking in." Kristoff announced as he whistled for Sven.

"Don't even think about it, Kristoff." Anna was quick to shoot that idea down. "You know how Elsa would take it."

"Is everything alright?" The two looked to see Elsa standing in the hall with young Jan in tow, both of them with worried expressions on their faces.

"He's locked himself in." Kristoff explained. "Do I have permission to break the door down?"

"Don't even think about it." Came Elsa's blunt reply. Anna gave her husband a triumphant grin, but it quickly faded away.

"Well, we don't really know for sure if he's in there." She said. "But he normally never locks his door unless he's in his room. Honey, give the doorknob another try."

Kristoff snorted. "Yeah. Like if I jangle it this way, it's suddenly going to open."

As soon as he said that sarcastic comment, there came a heavy clank on the other side of the room, and Kristoff pulled out the other half of the doorknob. Everyone just stared at him as he realized what he had just done.

"Uh…I really did not mean to do that." Kristoff scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Great going, genius." Anna lightly punched him. "You broke it."

"It was your idea!"

As the couple started to argue with Elsa unsuccessfully trying to break it up, Jan took the opportunity to open the door. He nearly shrieked when he discovered what was inside.

"Mommy! Daddy! Auntie Elsie!"

"What is it, Jan?" Anna left the argument to see what her son was exclaiming about. She gasped as soon as she took notice of it, her husband and sister following suit.

The entire room was frozen.

* * *

><p>Tomas sat under the same willow tree he was shooting at earlier, holding the frozen arrow that he had dug up. Too many thoughts swirled in his mind like the storm around him. Why did life hate him? Why did he have to have powers? It just wasn't fair. Jan didn't have any powers, and he was the happiest child on earth. Even Aunt Elsa was able to control hers, so why couldn't he? Maybe this was what Fate had in mind for him ever since he was born. Maybe he was destined to be burdened with a power beyond his reach. Just the thought of it made him want to run away and never see anyone again. He could get used to it. He never had that many friends anyways. No…it was too much, too depressing. Tomas angrily threw the arrow against a rock, causing it to shatter, and he buried his face in his arms as he let out a sharp, anguished cry of frustration and pain.<p>

Little did he know, he was not alone. From afar, Olaf was holding his head above a rock as he watched the scene unfold. He quickly lowered it back down onto his body and turned to the people next to him.

"Target sighted." He whispered as if he was some kind of special spy. "Begin Operation Bring Kid Back Home and Fix The Winter."

"Olaf!" Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff quietly shouted at him. Olaf pouted, seeing that he'd have no choice but to wait for summer to come again.

Anna glanced over longingly at her son. "I guess I should go talk to him."

"No. Let me handle this." Elsa covered her sister's hand with her own, assuring her that it would be best if Anna left this to her. After a silent nod of approval from her husband, Anna relented and let her sister take care of the situation.

It was almost like walking into a blizzard as Elsa approached her nephew, and that was only a preview of the storm he felt right now. The snowflakes buzzed around her at remarkable speeds and the wind whistled loudly in her ears as she drew nearer to him. At this rate, he probably didn't know she was there. With a sigh, Elsa raised her hand and just like that, the howling winds stopped and the snowflakes were suspended in their place. Tomas seemed to have noticed the sudden pause, and looked up to see his aunt take a seat right next to him. He felt some sort of comfort by her presence; at least she could relate to him. He loved his parents, but he wasn't sure if they would be that much help for him. Not to mention, Elsa was more calm and collected when it came to situations like these. He could already feel the torment inside him easing up a bit.

After a while of silence, Elsa spoke. "Impressive. I didn't create my first snowstorm until I was twenty."

Tomas caught the playful tone in her voice, but he wasn't in the mood for jokes right now. "Yes…I caused this early winter." He groaned. "I hate it. These powers…I never asked for them. So…why me?"

Elsa frowned as she leaned over to touch his shoulder, but Tomas quickly pulled away.

"Don't…" He warned her. "Everything I touch freezes."

"Is that so?" Elsa shook her head. "That's how it is for me as well. But watch…"

Tomas observed her as she took one of her gloves off and placed a bare hand on a tree branch, which was instantly covered in solid ice. She then took that same hand and placed it on her nephew's shoulder, ignoring the slight flinch he made when she touched his coat. Unlike the branch, Tomas didn't freeze up like an icicle. That really seemed to amaze and stupefy him at the same time.

"But…how?" He barely got the words out in his shocked state.

Elsa chuckled. "Because I've learned to control my powers…and love them."

"Love them?" Tomas seemed unconvinced. "They cause me trouble all the time. I could be shooting my bow or reading a book without thinking, and before I realize it they're frozen over. I went outside this morning just to go for a walk and the next thing I know, I sent a cloud up to the sky and covered the entire kingdom in snow. And the worst part is…I don't even know how to undo it. I can only make it worse…"

Tears of frustration began to gather at the boy's eyes, and he ferociously tried to wipe them away. Elsa gazed at her nephew in sympathy as she rubbed his back soothingly to try and get him to calm down.

"So that's why you've been isolating yourself lately?" She asked.

Tomas sniffled and gave off a nod. "Y-Yes…my powers were getting out of control…I didn't know what to tell my parents."

"I see."

In all honesty, Anna wouldn't have cared if her son had ice powers or not, especially when she's been around her sister who had the same thing. Kristoff was pretty much the same way. In fact, Tomas could probably have been half-boy and half-horse, and they still would have loved him just because he was their son. However, Tomas probably wasn't aware of that. He seemed more focused on all the trouble he was causing rather than the fact that his family could help him through this. If only he knew…and Elsa was going to make sure that he knew it right now.

"Tomas," Elsa opened her arms invitingly and her nephew all but collapsed into her embrace. "Let me share with you something I've learned as someone who also has ice powers. Isolation isn't going to make you free. And fear will be the one to destroy you in the end. I used to be like you once. To prevent hurting anyone, I shut myself away…but in doing so, I cut off everyone who was ever close to me, including Anna. At the time I didn't know that the true key to controlling my powers wasn't locking myself up… I found that out the hard way…when I almost killed my own sister."

Tomas looked up at her with shocked eyes when she revealed that last part. Nevertheless, Elsa continued on with trying to get her point across. "But that's a story for another day. The only way you can control these powers…is to not worry about them all the time. You have to accept them and love them…just as I had grown to do. In the end, love will thaw a frozen heart."

"L-Love?"

"That's right." Elsa smiled down at him. "Love. Imagine everyone you hold dear to you, and let that warm your heart."

"Love…"

Finally, he seemed to get it. The snow on the ground beneath them slowly began to disappear, revealing the green grass and fallen autumn leaves underneath. The icicles hanging from roofs vanished altogether, and the ice covering ponds and lakes began to dissolve without a trace. In a few seconds, any remainder of the wintery season was gone. Autumn had returned to Arendelle at last. Tomas smiled up at his aunt.

"Like that?" He asked.

Elsa laughed as she ruffled his hair. "Exactly like that."

Tomas felt a strong hand on his shoulder, and he looked up to see his father gazing warmly at him.

"That's my boy." Kristoff said with a grin.

Jan came running up and excitedly threw himself onto his older brother, who grunted painfully in response. "That was amazing, Tommy! You're the coolest older brother ever!"

"Tomas."

Tomas looked to see his mother smiling gently at him, her arms open wide. Tomas quickly ran over and wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh, sweetie," Anna kissed the top of his head. "Why didn't you just tell your father and I that you had ice powers?"

"I…I was afraid." Tomas admitted a little guiltily. Now that he thought about it, he wouldn't have been able to conceal his powers in front of everyone forever. "I didn't want to cause you trouble."

"Tommy, we love you. Ice powers or not. You can never cause us too much trouble." The two relinquished their embrace. Anna smirked at him as she brushed some loose bangs out of his eyes. "Now when you're being stubborn, then yes, that is a little troubling. But no matter what, you're our son. That's never going to change. So please, next time something is bothering you, will you talk to us about it?"

Tomas nodded and hugged his mother again. "Yes, Mother. Father. I promise."

Kristoff grinned at the scene before him and whispered over to his sister-in-law, "Thanks, Elsa. Spared us a conversation that would have probably lead to a lot of misunderstanding."

Elsa chuckled. "It was no problem. Besides, I think we all would have found out eventually. Streaks of his hair are already turning white."

"Still, I'm just amazed though…I never thought my own son would have ice powers like yours."

"Maybe it's in the genes."

"Maybe…since Anna doesn't have them, it probably skipped a gen—AH!"

At that moment, Kristoff got a face full of snow. After dusting the irritating, cold flecks from his eyes, he saw Elsa covering her mouth as she tried to stifle her laughter, Anna and Jan giggling mischievously between themselves, and Tomas putting on his best innocent expression on his face.

"Uh…" He stuttered. "Olaf did it?"

"Oh really?" Kristoff smirked as he looked over at the snowman, who was currently busy picking leaves out of his snow. "Tomas, snowball."

The moment Tomas conjured up a snowball and handed it to his father, Kristoff moved to throw it at Olaf, but then turned around and aimed for his oldest son instead. Tomas quickly ducked, and the projectile ended up hitting Anna. She immediately stopped laughing, and narrowed her eyebrows at her husband, her eyes burning with a fire of revenge in them.

"Oh, it is _so _on."

Tomas and Elsa grinned at each other before using their combined powers to create fresh snow in the backyard. The moment the ground became white again, Anna quickly mashed together a snowball and went after her husband. Jan decided to join in on the fun. He gathered as much snow as he could in his arms and dumped it over his brother and aunt. The two shouted in surprise as they saw the devious child already making a run for it. An unspoken alliance formed between the two, and they playfully charged at the boy who was now using Olaf for a shield, much to the snowman's chagrin.

"Hey! Wait! I'm not a bad guy, I swear!" He shouted, but that didn't stop Tomas and Elsa from pelting him with snowballs. Sven merely stood off to the side catching snowflakes on his tongue.

The once calm backyard quickly escalated into a chaotic, snowy battlefield, but everyone was having too much fun to care. After all, they were the only ones in Arendelle who could have a snowball fight in the middle of autumn, thanks to the wonders of ice powers.

* * *

><p><strong>So my first Frozen fanfic. <strong>**Thanks so those who read this. You just read like 10 pages of what my brain could come up with on a whim. Please let me know how I did. Also, I don't own Frozen. Just Tomas and Jan, who I will admit kind of grew on me. I might write more stories with them in it soon :P**


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